Sewing machines



June 20, 1961 R. E. JOHNSON SEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 OriginalFiled Nov. 29. 1954 INVENTOR. Ralph E. Johnson ATTORNEY June 20, 1961Original Filed Nov. 29. 1954 R. E. JOHNSON SEWING MACHINES 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

INVENTOR. Ralph E. Johnson BY ATTORNEY June 20, 1961 R. E. JOHNSONSEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed Nov. 29. 1954 INVENTOR.Ralph E. Johnson ATTORNEY June 20, 1961 R. E. JOHNSON SEWING MACHINES 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Original Filed Nov. 29. 1954 INVENTOR. Ralph E. JohnsonATTORNEY Fig.5.

June 20, 1961 R. E. JOHNSON SEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 OriginalFiled Nov. 29. 1954 ml l l I l l l I l E i 1.. L

uvmvrox. Ralph E. Johnson fl/ ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,989,016SEWING MACHINES Ralph E. Johnson, Mountainside, N.J., assignor to TheSinger Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N.J., a corporation of NewJersey Original application Nov. 29, 1954, Ser. No. 471,766, now PatentNo. 2,862,468, dated Dec. 2, 1958. Divided and this application Jan. 17,1957, Ser. No.

9 Claims. (Cl. 112-158) This invention relates to improvements in sewingmachines and more particularly to sewing machines of the ornamentalstitch variety in which the needle-bar is adapted to be reciprocatedendwise of itself at the same time that it is shifted laterally of thedirection of work feed.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide'a sewingmachine with an ornamental stitch sewing mechanism including verticalaxis rotary loop-taker and reciprocatory needle-bar mechanisms whichcooperate together in the formation of zigzag lock stitches.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a sewingmachine which employs a vertical axis rotary loop-taker with aneedle-barmechanisrn of the type wherein the needle-bar is reciprocatedin a path which extends within the confines of the loop-taker and at thereadily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 represents a front perspective view of a sewing machine in whichthe present invention is embodied.

FIG. 2 represents a side elevational view in axial cross section of thesewing machine illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 represents a top plan view of the sewing machine disclosed inFIG. 1 with the cover plate removed therefrom.

FIG. 4 represents a fragmentary elevational view of the actuating drivefor the needle-bar.

FIG. 5 represents a sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 represents a sectional view of the machine taken substantiallyalong the line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 represents, on an enlarged scale, a sectional view taken alongthe line 7-7 of FIG. 3.

FIG. '8 represents a diagrammatic view illustrating the paths ofmovement through whichthe needle-bar is operated with respect to therotary loop-taker and the needlebar actuating mechanism.

FIG. 9 represents a top plan view of the rotary looptaker with itsinternal mechanisms removed therefrom.

The following detailed description relates to a sewing machine of thetype disclosed in my copending application .machine in which the presentinvention .is incorporated comprises a substantially rectangular shapedbase 1 forming at its upper side a work-supporting surface or bed plateand provided .at its under side with a plurality of downwardly extendingside walls 2-2 and end walls 3-3 forming a box-like enclosure, thedownwardly facing opening of which is normally closed by a bottom coverice plate 4 held in place by a thumb nut 5 threaded over a stud 6extending downwardly from the under face of the base 1.

Suitably secured upon the hollow bed 1 is a vertically disposed hollowstandard 7 which carries an overhanging bracket-arm 8 terminating in ahollow head 9 in which is mounted a reciprocatory needle-bar 10 andresser-bar 11. The upper part of the bracket-arm 8 is closed by acover-plate 12 held in place by screws not herein shown. A main drivingshaft 13 disposed within and lengthwise 0f the over-hanging bracket arm8 is journaled in bearings 14 and 15 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) which aresecured in the sewing machine frame forming a part of the bracketarm 8.The arm standard end of the shaft 13 is connected with a hand wheel 16in a manner which is best disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,617,375, datedNovember 11, 1952.

Also secured to the main shaft 13 in a manner as is disclosed in theabove noted patent is a gear 17. The main shaft 13, as is hereinafterdescribed in more detail, drives the needle-bar 10 carried in the head9. A looptaker actuating shaft, not herein shown, is disposed within thebase of the machine and is driven by the main shaft 13 through bevelgears 21 and 22, and shaft 23. A pair of actuating eccentrics 26 and 27are formed integral with the gear 21 and the combination is held inplace upon the shaft 13 by a set screw 28. The eccentrics 26 and 27actuate pitmans 29 and 30 respectively, and these in turn actuaterock-shafts 31 and 32 (see FIG. 5) in a conventional manner. Theserock-shafts 31 and 32 impart the usual feeding movements to aconventional feed-dog 33 by way of a feed-bar '34 which is connectedwith the shafts 31 and 32 by cranks 35 and 36 of which the latter isconnected to the bar 34 by means of a link 37.

The arm standard 7 is especially designed to provide adequate space forhousing sewing machine parts. Tothis end, the arm standard is made insubstantially the shape of a pyramid, the lower portion of the standardbeing larger than the upper portion. Within the lower portion of thestandard is provided a housing generally designated by the numeral 38 inwhich is mounted a vertically disposed electric motor 39. As is bestdisclosed in the above noted Patent No. 2,617,375, the arm standard 7 ofthe present machine is provided with a hollow cylindrical wall portion41) for receiving the extended distal end of the motor drive shaft, theupper portion of which is designated by the numeral 41 and isillustrated in FIG. 3. This distal end portidn 4d of the main shaftcarries a spiral gear 42 which meshes with the gear 17 carried by themain shaft 13 for the purpose of driving the main shaft 13. From this,it is to be understood that the motor 39 functions to-drive the mainshaft 13 which, through the medium of the upright shaft 23 and thepitmans 29 and 30, actuates the lower rotary shaft, as well as the feedrock-shafts 31 and 32.

As may be best seen in FIG. 1, the present machine'is provided with aconventional form of stitch-length control lever 45 which projects intothe hollow standard 7 and is pivotally mounted therein upon a pivot pin46 and 'is formed with a guideway 47 which is tracked by a pin 48carried by the pitman 29. Thus, as the lever 45 is shifted about the pin46, it will lengthen or shorten the eifective throw of the feedingmechanism or reverse the action thereof, all in a manner which is wellknown. Cooperatconventional type of presser-foot 51 which cooperateswith a throat-plate 52 and the feed-dog 33 in the feeding of the workover the work-support 1 and away from the operator. The throat-plate 52is carried by the worksupport 1.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the open end of the head 9is covered over by means of a face-plate 53 which is hinged to the rearportion of the frame 9 by means of vertical pins 54, 54 (see FIGS. 3 and5), whereby the plate 53 may be grasped by an ear 55 and swung back andforth from an opened to a closed position thereby to provide access tothe internal portion of the head 9.

The forward end portion of the main shaft 13 extends in the conventionalmanner into the hollow head 9 for the pgrpose of reciprocating theneedle-thread take-up arm 5 Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, anintermediate portion of the cover-plate 12 is provided with an opening57 which is normally closed by a plate 58 which is hinged in a mannernot herein shown at its rearward portion thereby to permit the operatorto gain access to the internal portion of the machine for purposes whichwill hereinafter be described.

The machine, in accordance with the present invention, comprises azigzag type of needle-bar which is adapted, in addition to beingreciprocated in a direction of its length, to be periodically shiftedback and forth laterally of the direction of work feed to produce incooperation with the rotary loop-taker zigzag stitches. In accordancewith one form of the present invention, the machine is provided with agroup of stacked or nested cams 59 which are rotated in synchronism withthe movements of the needle-bar, a pair of cam followers 60 and 61 whichare adapted to track various combinations of the cams, and means 62 and63 for integrating the movements of the two cam followers and fortransferring such integrated movements to the needle-bar mechanism forthe purpose of moving it back and forth laterally of the direction ofneedle feed. Also, the present machine may be provided withoperator-influenced means 64 and 65 for shifting the cam followersthereby to permit the operator to select various cams for the purpose ofeffecting different patterns of movement of the needle-bar. It is to beparticularly understood that each of the cams of the group of cams 59 isdifferent from its associate cams so that each cam in effect representsa different pattern of ornamental stitch movement of the needle-bar. Inthis connection, it is to be further appreciated that with two camfollowers 60 and 61 various cams may be selected to operatesimultaneously to the end that a great, variety of ornamental stitchesmay be performed with the present mechanism.

As hereinabove noted, the hollow head portion 9 of the present sewingmachine is provided with an upright needle-bar 10 which is adapted to bereciprocated endwise of itself, as well as to be laterally shifted in adirection substantially at right angles to the direction of work feed.Referring particularly to FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, the needle-bar 10 isnormally disposed with its longitudinal axis forming an angle of abouteleven degrees with the vertical so that the eye-pointed needle 50 willbe presented toward the operator thereby to improve the visibility ofthe operator in the stitching area. More specifically, the lower portionof the needle-bar 10 is slidingly mounted within a bore 66 of a bearingelement, the upper portion 67 of which is formed substantially in theshape of a ball or sphere while the lower portion 68 is formed as aright cylinder. In order to form a seat for the ball 67, the frameportion 69 of the head 9 is provided with a bore 70 in which isslidingly mounted two spherical socket seats 71 and 72 in which thespherical bearing 67 is mated in a manner as is best disclosed in FIGS.6 and 8. A firm seat is provided for the bearing 67 by urging thespherical seat portions 71 and 72 together by means of a sleeve 73 whichis threaded within the bore 70 of the frame 69. Whenever the sleeve 73is properly seated it may be locked in position by means of a set screw74. It is to be particularly noted that the right cylindrical portion 68of the needle-bar bearing does not engage the sleeve 73 and, thus, thebearing 67 may be rocked back and forth in the manner of a universaljoint within the bearing seats 71 and 72. Also, the needle-bar 10 may bereciprocated vertically within the spherical bearing 67.

The upper portion of the needle-bar 10 is slidingly mounted within asecond hearing which comprises an upper portion in the form of a ball orsphere 75 having a lower portion shaped as a right circular cylinder 76.The spherical bearing 75 is received within a bore 77 provided within agate 78 which is pivotally mounted upon an upright cylindrical member79. The spherical bearing 75 rests upon a spherical seat or socket 80formed in the lower portion of the bore 77, and the bearing 75 ismaintained against this seat by a sleeve' member 81 having its lowerinternal portion formed with a spherical surface as at 82. The sleeve 81is maintained in intimate contact with the bearing 75 by a threaded cap83 which is seated within the gate 78 and against the sleeve 81. Thethreaded cap 83 is apertured as at 84 to permit the needle-bar 10 toshift laterally relative to the gate 78 in the manner of a universaljoint. As is best disclosed in FIG. 6, the sleeve 81 may be locked inposition by means of a set screw 85.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 6, the forward portion ofthe main shaft 13 is provided with a conventional crank mechanism forreciprocating the needlebar 10 endwise of its length. More specifically,the end portion of the shaft 13 is provided with a crank 86 havingprojecting therefrom a crank pin 87 to the end portion of which ispivotally secured a link 88 of which the lower portion is provided witha bore 89 for slidably receiving therein a cylindrical pin 90 whose oneend portion is provided with a pair of laterally spaced cheeks 9191. Asmay be best seen from FIG. 7, the cheeks 91-91 are provided with a pairof aligned apertures 92-92 for receiving therein a sleeve 93 which isprovided with a central bore 94 for receiving the needle-bar 10. Thesleeve 93 is locked in place upon the needle-bar by means of a set screw95 and from this it is manifest that the sleeve 93 is formedsubstantially as an integral part of the needlebar 10 and can rotatewithin the cheek apertures 9292.

Thus, rotation of the main shaft 13 will, through the medium of therotary crank 86 and its associated mechanism, function to reciprocatethe needle-bar 10 back and forth lengthwise of its longitudinal axis andwithin its upper and lower bearings 75 and 67.

As hereinabove described, the needle-bar 10 is adapted to be shiftedlaterally of the direction of work feed by means of a plurality ofrotary cams 59 and a pitman member 63, of which the latter is pivotallyconnected to the needle-bar supporting crank or gate 78 by means of avertical pin 96. From this it is to be understood that the endwisemovements of the pitman 63 will effect an oscillaiton of the needle-bargate 78 to the end that the upper portion of the needle-bar will beswung through an arc whose center coincides with the axis of the pivotmember 79 about which the gate 78 oscillates. This needle-bar action isdiagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 8, wherein the axis of oscillationof the gate 78 is represented by the line 96. The dotted are 97represents the path of movement taken by the axis of the pin 96 whilethe are 98 represents the path of movement traversed by the uppercylindrical bearing 75 of the needle-bar 10. By the same token, thepitman 63 is diagrammatically illustrated as are also the cam followers60 and 61, a needle bight and field selector member 99 and itsassociated handle 100.

Still referring to FIG. 8, it is to be understood that with the upperspherical bearing 75 of the needle-bar 10v shifting about a pathdesignated by the are 98 and with the lower spherical bearing 67 beingbodily fixed in the lower frame portion 69, the needle 50 will be swungsubstantially, through a path corresponding to an arc 101; which isdesigned to correspond, substantially. with theaarc of movement of aloop -seizing hook 102 carried by; a,rotary loop -taker 103 mounted upona substantially upright, shaft 104. This rotary, loop;tak er isillustrated inumore detailin FIG. 5 and itgis tobe particularly;observed that the needle 50 is arranged to descend inside of thecircular path of movement of a loop-seizing hook 102 at a locationrearwardly of the loop-taker body with reference to the direction ofnormal work feed which is from right to left as viewed in FIG. 5. Fromthis, it is manifest that within certain optimum limitations the needlewill properly cooperate with the loop-seizing hook 102 no matter whetherthe needle is given endwise reciprocations or a combination ofreciprocating movements and lateral sidewise movements since the needle50 in in its lateral movements follows a path 101 which substantiallycoincides with the circularpath of movement of the loop-seizing hook102.

Referring particularly to FIG. 9, there is illustrated a top plan viewof the rotary loop-taker 103, and cooperating with this rotaryloop-taker is a needle 50 which is shown in three different positionssuch as its central or normal position 105, its extreme left-handposition 106, and its extreme right-hand position 107, and in each oneof these positions it will properly cooperate with the loop-seizing hookbeak 102 in the formation of stitches due to the fact that the needle 50is shifted along the path as represented substantially by the arc 101.

Thus, the gate 78 has one end pivotally mounted about a fixed axis andits other end pivotally connected by a ball joint structure with theupper end of the needle-bar 10. Means are provided for oscillating thegate about its axis thereby to swing the upper end of the needle-barthrough an arc of a circle, as represented in FIG. 8 by the number 98.Also, means are provided in the form of a second ball joint structureslidably associated with an intermediate portion of the needle-bar andcarried by the frame for constraining the lower end of the needlebar toswing through an arc of a circle, as represented in FIG. 8 by the number101 which is eccentricto the other circle when such circles areprojected upon the worksupporting surface 1.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis:

1. In a sewing machine, the combination of a curved loop-taker having aloop-seizing hook circularly movable about an upright axis, athread-case supported by said loop-taker, a holder for restraining saidcase from moving with said loop-taker, Work-feeding means for normallyadvancing the work along a straight-line horizontal path, an endwisereciprocable needle-bar, a needle carried by the lower end of saidneedle-bar and arranged to cooperate with said loop-taker in theformation of stitches at a location rearwardly of the loop-taker axiswith reference to the direction of normal work-feed, means connecteddirectly with and disposed behind said needlebar with reference to thenormal direction of work-feed for bodily shifting said needle laterallyof the direction of Work-feed, and a member connected with the lastmentioned means and constraining the lower end of the needle-bar wherebythe needle in its movements laterally of the direction of work-feed willtrace an arc of a circle substantially concentric with the upright axisabout which said loop-taker moves.

2. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, in which said needle isarranged to descend inside of the circular path of movement of saidloop-seizing hook.

3. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 1, in which said last mentionedmeans .includes a gate member connected with said needle-bar andpivotally mounted about a fixed axis disposed behind said needle-barwith reference to the normal direction of work-feed.

4. In a sewing machine, the combination of a frame, a substantially flatwork-supporting surface formed upon the frame a curvedloop-takercircularlymovable about an upright axis and located. below thework-supporting surface, work-feeding means for normally advancing thework over. the. work-supporting surface and along a straight-linehorizontal.v path, a needle-bar carried by the frame at-the. uppersideof the work-support, aneedle carried? at a. first. end. of. theneedle-bar, means for reciprocating the needle-bar endwise of itslongitudinal axis and toward and from the work-supporting surfacewhereby the needle will cooperate with the loop-taker in the formationof stitches, means for laterally shifting the second end of theneedle-bar through an arc of a circle, and means constraining anintermediate portion of the needle-bar thereby to confine the lateralmovements of the first end of the bar to an arc of a circle which iseccentric to the first circle when such circles are projected upon thework-supporting surface.

5. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 4 in which said last mentionedmeans includes a ball and socket joint structure.

6. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 4 in which said third mentionedmeans includes a gate member connected with the second end of theneedle-bar and pivoted about a fixed axis.

7. A sewing machine as claimed in claim 4 in which said third mentionedmeans includes a gate member connected with the second end of theneedle-bar and pivoted about a fixed axis arranged at an inclinationrelative to the fiat work-supporting surface.

8. In a sewing machine, the combination of a frame, a substantially flatwork-supporting surface formed upon the frame, a curved loop-takercircularly movable about an upright axis and located below thework-supporting surface, work-feeding means for normally advancing thework over the work-supporting surface and along a straight-linehorizontal path, a needle-bar carried by the frame at the upper side ofthe Work-supporting surface, a needle carried at a first end of theneedle-bar, means for reciprocating the needle-bar endwise of itslongitudinal axis and toward and from the work-supporting surfacethereby to cooperate with the loop-taker in the formation of stitches, agate having one end pivotally mounted about an axis fixed by the frameand its other end pivotally connected by a ball joint structure with thesecond end of the needle-bar, means for oscillating the gate about itsaxis thereby to swing the second end of the needle-bar through an arc ofa circle, and means including a ball joint structure slidably associatedwith an intermediate portion of the needle-bar and carried by the framefor constraining the first end of the needlebar to swing through an arcof a circle which is eccentric to the first mentioned circle when suchcircles are projected upon the work-supporting surface.

9. In a sewing machine, the combination of a curved loop-taker having aloop seizing hook circularly movable about an upright axis, athread-case supported by said loop-taker, a holder for restraining saidcase from moving with said loop-taker, work-feeding means for normallyadvancing the work along a straight-line horizontal path, an endwisereciprocable needle-bar, a needle carried by the lower end of saidneedle-bar and arranged to cooperate with said loop-taker in theformation of stitches at a location rearwardly of the loop-taker axiswith reference to the direction of normal work-feed, means comprising agate member connected with the upper end of said needle-bar andpivotally mounted about a fixed axis disposed behind said needle-barwith reference to the normal direction of work-feed thereby to swing theupper end of said needle-bar about said gate axis, and meansconstraining an intermediate portion of said needle-bar thereby toconfine the lateral movements of said needle to an arc of a circle whichis substantially concentric with the upright axis about which saidlooptaker moves.

(References on following p g .4

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Diehlet a1; 'July 23, 1901 Jacob et a1. Feb. 26, 1907 Hemleb Aug. 3, 1915 5Hughes Mar. 10, 1925 8 Greenwood Jan. 15, 1929 Schweiger n Jan. 14, 1936Ebert Apr. 26, 1938 Parry 'Dec. 15, 1953 Casas-Robert et a1. July 6,1954 Scott et a1 July 17, 1956

